CANNING: Mango-Habanero Hot Wing Sauce
- Mango Habanero Hot Wing Sauce Ingredients
- Kitchen Equipment Needed
- How to Make Mango Habanero Wing Sauce
- Storage & Serving Ideas
- Mango-Habanero Wing Sauce (Water-Bath Canning Recipe)
This mango habanero sauce canning recipe has a tropical fruity flavor with a real kick! Fresh or frozen mangoes are blended with a tangy hot sauce, vinegar, a bit of garlic and honey, and fiery fruity habanero peppers to make a memorable homemade hot sauce. It’s a tested Ball recipe, safe for water-bath canning, or you can freeze anything you won’t use in a week or so.
It’s a fantastic hot wing sauce, but it’s also a lovely drizzling or dipping sauce. This is amazing on fish or black bean tacos (made with homemade tortillas), quesadillas or fajitas, grilled shrimp or chicken, or you can add it to a jerk marinade to take up the heat.
Cook your wings using your preferred method (fried, roasted, grilled, or smoked) and then toss them with this fruity, fiery hot sauce for your next big game buffet or get-together. Serve extra sauce on the side for dipping for your friends who like it even hotter!
Mango Habanero Hot Wing Sauce Ingredients
Mangoes:
You can use fresh or frozen mangoes to make this wing sauce. Frozen diced mango makes it super easy, but you can use peeled, pitted, diced fresh ripe mangoes when they’re in season for the freshest flavor! Either way, you’ll need four cups of diced fruit.
Vinegar:
The original recipe calls for distilled white vinegar, which will let the bright flavors of the fruit and fruity peppers shine through. You could also use apple cider vinegar here, or white wine vinegar. Make sure your vinegar is bottled at 5% acidity (check the label to be sure so that your canned goods are safe!).
Hot sauce:
I would recommend a mild to medium vinegar-based sauce here, though the original recipe doesn’t specify. You will already be adding a lot of heat with the habanero peppers, so stick to a neutral base sauce to let the other ingredients shine through.
I use Louisiana hot sauce as the base, but you could also use Crystal, Franks, or a similar hot sauce. Only use a plain hot sauce here, not a seasoned wing sauce with added oils and other ingredients!
Habaneros:
You can use fresh or frozen habaneros. Fresh is best, but I used some frozen ones from my friend’s garden. You probably want to wear gloves when handling these, especially when slicing them in half to remove the seeds. If you don’t, make sure you wash your hands thoroughly with lots of soap to get rid of the capsaicin oils that can burn your skin (or anything else you touch after handling them).
The Ball recipes specifies five halved and seeded habaneros, which will make a fiery hot sauce! If you want a milder sauce, you can safely reduce this quantity but do not add more if you are canning your sauce.
Garlic:
I recommend using fresh garlic cloves here, though you can substitute an equivalent volume of jarred chopped garlic or garlic paste. Don’t use garlic powder or salt.
Sweeteners:
This sauce uses equal parts of honey and granulated sugar. White sugar will let the bright fruit flavors take center stage, but you could use raw sugar if you prefer a caramel note.
Other seasonings:
The original recipe stops there, but I like to add a bit of dried ground coriander seed and some dried ginger to add another layer of fruity flavor. This is optional, but a safe modification to the original tested recipe.
There is no additional salt added to the recipe, as the hot sauce has salt, but you can taste and adjust the salt level if you think it needs some.
Kitchen Equipment Needed
blender or immersion blender:
You can use a regular blender to puree the ingredients, or an immersion blender. If your immersion blender doesn’t have a lot of power, it’s best if you use a regular blender, or finely chop the garlic and habanero peppers first before blending so that they can be well blended with the fruit.
medium saucepan or small jam pot:
You’ll want a non-reactive (stainless or enameled) heavy-bottomed pot to cook the mango sauce without scorching or browning. It should hold about 1.5-2 quarts of liquid so that there is room to simmer the sauce without boiling over.
canning pot:
You don’t need a giant canning pot, since you’ll be canning your hot sauce in small 1/2 pint or 4 oz jars.
canning jars & new lids:
You’ll need 5 or 6 half-pint canning jars, 10-12 4 oz jars, or an equivalent volume of both small jelly jars and small condiment jars. Use new metal lids for each jar (unless you are comfortable with glass lidded Weck jars or reusable lids like Tattler).
jar tongs & funnel:
A canning jar funnel makes it easier to fill the jars neatly, and jar tongs help you safely transfer the jars to the water bath and remove them after processing. You can also use a jar rack if your canning pot has one.
How to Make Mango Habanero Wing Sauce
prep ingredients:
- Wash, peel, pit, dice, and measure out four cups of mango if you are using fresh fruit. If you are using frozen fruit, measure it out and let it thaw while you work on the rest of the recipe.
- You can also cut the unpeeled fruit free from the pit, cutting closely along the pit to make two hemispheres of mango.
- Carefully cut a diced pattern into the mango without cutting through the skin, then turn the peel inside out.
- Most of the fruit will pop free from the peel, or you can use a paring knife to carefully trim the rest free and remove any clinging bits of peel.
- You can usually get additional fruit from the sides of the pit, trimming carefully again with a small knife.
- Peel and roughly chop or crush the garlic cloves.
- Get out your other ingredients and measuring implements.
prep water bath & jars:
- Fill your canning pot (or a large saucepan with a silicone trivet or metal rack in the bottom) with water, cover, and bring up to a boil while you make your sauce.
- Wash your half-pint jars (you will need about five of them for a single batch of this mango wing sauce, or an equivalent volume of smaller 4 oz jars). Do not use pint or quart jars for this recipe, which was tested for half pint jelly jars.
- You don’t have to sterilize the jars, but you can keep them hot by putting them into your preheating boiling water bath.
- Do not boil the lids (disregard this only for reusable lids like Tattler or Weck jars. Regular canning jar lids should no longer be boiled before using).
puree the sauce:
- You can use a blender for the smoothest sauce, or use an immersion blender to puree everything in your cooking pot to save on clean-up.
- Blend together the white vinegar, hot sauce, sugar, honey, de-seeded habanero peppers, crushed garlic, and coriander until smooth. Watch out for splashes, and definitely don’t get them in your eyes!
- Add the diced mango gradually, continuing to puree until you have a smooth sauce.
simmer mango habanero sauce:
- If you didn’t use an immersion blender, pour your mango habanero sauce into a medium-sized non-reactive saucepan.
- Bring the sauce up to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring often and watching until it comes up to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered, stirring regularly for at least 10 minutes.
- When the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency (remember that it will thicken somewhat as it cools… you can use a cold or frozen plate to test a dollop of the sauce if you aren’t sure, as if you were making jelly) it is ready to can.
- This won’t take long… don’t over-reduce the sauce so that the flavors stay bright!
jar the sauce:
- Using a jar funnel if you have one, ladle the hot sauce into your waiting half-pint jars.
- Leave 1/4″ of headspace at the top of the jars.
- De-bubble if necessary (stir gently with a de-bubbling tool, thin spatula, or butter knife).
- Wipe the rims of the jars to remove any residue, and place a new lid on each jar.
- Tighten down the jar rings just fingertip tight (do not over-tighten the bands).
can the wing sauce:
- Using jar tongs or a jar lifting rack, transfer the filled jars into your boiling water bath. Make sure the jars are covered by at least 1-2″ of boiling water.
- Replace the lid on the canning pot and bring back up to a boil.
- Process the jars at a full boil for 10 minutes, adjusting the time for altitude.
- Turn off the heat and leave the jars to rest for 5 more minutes, then remove them from the water bath to cool.
Storage & Serving Ideas
- After the jars have cooled completely (8-24 hours) remove the bands and check for seals.
- Make sure that the button on the lid is depressed and the jars have a good strong vacuum seal.
- Refrigerate any jars of habanero mango hot wing sauce that did not seal and use them first. Or, you can reheat and reprocess them in a boiling water bath with new lids within 24 hours.
- Gently wash jars or wipe with a damp cloth to remove any sugary residue or hard water deposits from the canning bath.
- Clearly label your jars with the name and date of your product, and store them in a cool, dark pantry.
- For best quality, enjoy home-canned goods like this mango hot sauce within 12-18 months.
- The hot sauce will still be safe to consume after that as long as it was properly processed and stored, and the jars are still sealed.
- However, older sauces may discolor and darken, and the flavor and nutritional value will decline over time, so it’s best to make just what you will use in a year or two at a time.
- Be generous and share the love with your friends by having them all over for a BBQ or taco night! Your homemade habanero mango sauce also makes a great gift. Or, you could organize a canned goods & jam swap if you have other friends who can!
Mango-Habanero Wing Sauce (Water-Bath Canning Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar (5% acidity) (substitute apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar of equal strength)
- ¼ cup hot sauce (Louisiana, Crystal, or similar plain vinegar-based hot sauce. Do not use wing sauces with added oil or dairy).
- 5 large habanero peppers (split, stems & seeds removed)
- 4 cloves garlic (peeled & crushed)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp honey
- ¾ tsp ground coriander seed (optional, not in Ball recipe)
- ¼ tsp ground dried ginger (optional, not in Ball recipe)
- 4 cups diced ripe mango (fresh or frozen & thawed, peeled & pitted fruit)
Instructions
prep sauce ingredients:
- Wash, peel, pit, dice, and measure out four cups of mango if you are using fresh fruit. If you are using frozen fruit, measure it out and let it thaw while you work on the rest of the recipe.
- You can also cut the unpeeled fruit free from the pit, cutting closely along the pit to make two hemispheres of mango.
- Carefully cut a diced pattern into the mango without cutting through the skin, then turn the peel inside out.
- Most of the fruit will pop free from the peel, or you can use a paring knife to carefully trim the rest free and remove any clinging bits of peel.
- You can usually get additional fruit from the sides of the pit, trimming carefully again with a small knife.
- Peel and roughly chop or crush the garlic cloves.
- Get out your other ingredients and measuring implements.
prep water bath & jars:
- Fill your canning pot (or a large saucepan with a silicone trivet or metal rack in the bottom) with water, cover, and bring up to a boil while you make your sauce.
- Wash your half-pint jars (you will need about five of them for a single batch of this mango wing sauce, or an equivalent volume of smaller 4 oz jars). Do not use pint or quart jars for this recipe, which was tested for half pint jelly jars.
- You don’t have to sterilize the jars, but you can keep them hot by putting them into your preheating boiling water bath.
- Do not boil the lids (disregard this only for reusable lids like Tattler or Weck jars. Regular canning jar lids should no longer be boiled before using).
puree the sauce:
- You can use a blender for the smoothest sauce, or use an immersion blender to puree everything in your cooking pot to save on clean-up.
- Blend together the white vinegar, hot sauce, sugar, honey, de-seeded habanero peppers, crushed garlic, and coriander until smooth. Watch out for splashes, and definitely don’t get them in your eyes!
- Add the diced mango gradually, continuing to puree until you have a smooth sauce.
simmer mango habanero sauce:
- If you didn’t use an immersion blender, pour your mango habanero sauce into a medium-sized non-reactive saucepan.
- Bring the sauce up to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring often and watching until it comes up to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered, stirring regularly for at least 10 minutes.
- When the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency (remember that it will thicken somewhat as it cools… you can use a cold or frozen plate to test a dollop of the sauce if you aren't sure, as if you were making jelly), it is ready to can. This won't take long… don't over-reduce the sauce so that the flavors stay bright!
jar the sauce:
- Using a jar funnel if you have one, ladle the hot sauce into your waiting half-pint jars.
- Leave 1/4″ of headspace at the top of the jars.
- Debubble if necessary (stir gently with a debubbling tool, thin spatula, or butter knife).
- Wipe the rims of the jars to remove any residue, and place a new lid on each jar.
- Tighten down the jar rings just fingertip tight (do not over-tighten the bands).
can the wing sauce:
- Using jar tongs or a jar lifting rack, transfer the filled jars into your boiling water bath. Make sure the jars are covered by at least 1-2″ of boiling water.
- Replace the lid on the canning pot and bring back up to a boil.
- Process the jars at a full boil for 10 minutes, adjusting the time for altitude.
- Turn off the heat and leave the jars to rest for 5 more minutes, then remove them from the water bath to cool.
Notes
Nutrition
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